Data Has a Nationality: A Report Coming Soon on What Matters Most in the Digital World

• Digital autonomy is determined by the ability to independently manage citizens’ data, security and digital identity – in a manner consistent with the public interest.
• How to regain, at least in part, sovereignty in the area of ​​high technologies and the digital economy was discussed during the European Economic Congress (EEC).
• We will soon present the EEC Recommendations on these issues. The report "Digital Sovereignty. Between the Dominance of Big Tech and Building Own Capabilities" will be a continuation of the Congress summary series on the WNP Economic Trends website.

The war in Europe, the growing scale of cyber threats, the dominance of big tech, the fierce rivalry between global powers in the digital economy, the latest technologies and the raw materials and... competences needed for their development - this environment had to lead Europe to reflect on the degree and effects of dependency.

Cloud, data, infrastructure determine the competitiveness of the entire economy - time to wake up

The challenges of digital sovereignty are a hot topic in Europe, but also in Poland. This issue has become one of the key elements of the policy of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski, who has made it almost the watchword of his term.

Indeed, the role of state policy seems crucial. It is about supporting Polish service providers for the public sector and long-term investments in infrastructure.

Today, there is a growing awareness of the competitive advantage that cloud computing provides – emphasized Krzysztof Gawkowski, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Affairs. - The demand for it will be growing, for example, in local governments. I want to make it clear that the Polish cloud business will have my support here - he added.

On the domestic front , the construction of the National Data Processing Centre – a key investment for the public sector – can be considered a step in the right direction. The panelists of the European Economic Congress emphasised that such activities should first and foremost include the participation of Polish suppliers.

Let's do it ourselves? In digitalization it's not that easy. The cards have been dealt

- Capital has a nationality - emphasized Max Dropiński, Technology Business Development Director at Atlas Ward Group. - If we are going to build large data centers, invest in building this ecosystem, let's do it with Polish capital. Let's check, building the entire ecosystem, whether we are actually employing Polish capital to build it - so that we build our strength as an economy, and as a result, security, because economic strength is directly related to it - he added.

The government, declaring repolonization (also in the area of ​​high technologies and in the processes of digitalization), must reckon with reality. The role of big tech is overwhelming, it determines the possibilities of development of the entire economy; "ousting" the tycoons from the market, even if it were possible, could bring more problems than benefits.

- I think the state does not fully realize what real power it has in creating trends in the area of ​​​​digitization - noted Marcin Krasuski, CEE Government Affairs and Public Policy Lead at Google. - An issue that I would like to strongly emphasize: let's not create a false dichotomy between the so-called hyperscalers (technology giants providing cloud services and computing infrastructure on a huge scale - Google, AWS and Microsoft Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud - editor's note) and local suppliers. This market, this cake, is really growing so quickly that there is enough for everyone - he said.

American technology is security and a universal standard – European politicians understand this, focused on limiting Chinese influence, which pushes Europe even more into the arms of American big tech. And this despite knowledge of cases where technological advantage is used to obtain data.

There is simply no substitute for the technologies offered by digital giants… European projects do not meet (yet?) the expectations of businesses, primarily due to their scale and global functionality.

An example of emerging initiatives to support the local digital economy is the Gaia-X initiative - ultimately a European alternative to cloud services provided by so-called hyperscalers. However, the project has encountered problems and is still not ready to compete with American solutions.

Data is the oil of the modern economy. It matters who has access to it and where it is processed

- In France, care was taken to ensure that data - especially in the health sector - about citizens was stored in France with the help of a special certificate that a company wishing to process data must have - said Wiesław Wilk, chairman of the Polish Cloud Association. - No one raises the argument that the principles of the free market in the European Union are being violated... France protects its data, especially in the field of AI. We are currently facing such a choice.

Data center location is definitely no longer a neutral issue. But awareness of the importance of the ability (i.e. skills and infrastructure) to process data independently is also growing. We have no shortage of ambition.

- Should we strive to become a regional data center hub? Yes, for various reasons - argued Rafał Rosiński, Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs. - Firstly: due to the geographical and geopolitical location. Secondly: due to - and this may often be the most important element - human resources in the broad sense of IT specialists.

It's a long road to independence. You have to go through it together and you can't go off it

European resources are limited. Attempts to develop their own (i.e. national) solutions cannot be considered successful (e.g. communicators – French Tchap or German Wire). The only chance to compete with global potentates is provided by "pan-European" cooperation, which… is lacking.

Building digital sovereignty is a difficult, expensive and long-term process that requires political courage, regulatory consistency, and investments on a scale comparable to the industrial plans of the world's largest economies.

Joint European technological projects are necessary, as well as acceptance of a policy of supporting domestic innovations, even when (and this usually is the case) this generates the risk of failure.

Europe and Poland need to understand that there is no shortcut to greater technological independence and that nothing will happen overnight. Perhaps it would be safer and more rational to treat digital sovereignty not as a goal, but as a path that will define the place of states and societies on the future map of the world.